Storm the Court Upsets Breeders' Cup Juvenile

If the $2 million TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) is any indication of what awaits racing fans on the 2020 Triple Crown trail, then get some popcorn and buckle your seat belt. There's a wild, unpredictable trip ahead of us.

On paper, anyway, the 36th edition of the Juvenile looked like a rather formful way to decide the 2-year-old championship.

The three betting favorites—Dennis' Moment (4-5), Eight Rings (3-2), and Scabbard (5-1)—seemed to tower over the other five starters, none of whom were less than 23-1 on the toteboard at Santa Anita Park.

But one stride out of the starting gate, all of that changed, and it was a horse who was first purchased for $5,000 that galloped off with the coveted seven-figure payday Nov. 1.

Albaugh Family Stables' Dennis' Moment stumbled at the break. He was a clear last in the field of eight passing the finish line the first time around and showed jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. little interest in playing catch-up.

"I think he tried to break too fast, and he stumbled," Ortiz said.

Then, passing the quarter pole, grade 1 winner Eight Rings—named for New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowls with the Pats and two as an assistant coach with the New York Giants—began running like he was named for Belichick's forgettable tenure with the Cleveland Browns and dropped out of contention.

As for Joseph Sutton's Scabbard, who was second to Dennis' Moment in the Iroquois Stakes (G3) in September, he never fired and could come no closer to the lead than fifth until the final yards, when he moved into fourth.

And with that, opportunity knocked and Storm the Court answered.

Sent off at odds of 45-1 with jockey Flavien Prat after finishing third—8 1/4 lengths behind Eight Rings—in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita, Storm the Court ($93.80) responded favorably to the addition of blinkers, taking the lead at the start and outdueling 28-1 shot Anneau d'Or in the stretch to take the Juvenile by a neck on "Future Stars Friday" before a crowd of 41,243.

"I don't know what to say other than I'm just so proud of this little horse," trainer Peter Eurton said. "He just never stops trying. When he was on the lead like he was in his original first race, he had three horses tackle him that day. And so I knew he was going to fight, but I just didn't know if there was going to be something so strong he couldn't fight back. But it's just his heart. He's an amazing little horse. And he's not that little anymore, actually. He's grown a bit since we bought him, obviously, a good two, three inches. But this feels pretty good."

The second-longest price on the toteboard, Storm the Court was originally bought by Bryan Rice for just $5,000 from the Stepping Stone Farm consignment at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Mixed Sale. He was then part of the Woodside Ranch consignment at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, and his $60,000 purchase price has become a tremendous bargain for owners Exline-Border Racing, which partnered with David Bernsen, Susanna Wilson, and Dan Hudock.

"We were looking at another one, which we bought also, but it was really a back-ring buy. And for $60,000, we felt we had a good mover and a good athlete. Wasn't a ton of pedigree on the page, but we got a horse that we felt had some talent," Ryan Exline said.

For Storm the Court's breeder, there was supreme satisfaction in seeing the colt shine on the famed stage of the World Championships.

"This horse is a fourth generation," said Jim Power of Stepping Stone Farm, which bred the son of Court Vision  in Kentucky out of the Tejano Run mare My Tejana Storm. "I raised his mother, and I had her mother, and I had her mother. And I just was happy this horse got a chance to run his race today. I can't say enough for the small breeders. It doesn't take a million-dollar horse to win a race."

It did, however, take a $12,000 late nomination fee to make Storm the Court eligible for Friday's race, but after collecting a $1.1 million share of the Juvenile purse, Exline considered it a very wise outlay.

"It's the best $12,000 we've ever spent," he said. "It was a blessing."

Needless to say, the result created some chaos for Eclipse Award voters as 39-1 shot Wrecking Crew was third, while Scabbard was fourth, Eight Rings sixth, and Dennis' Moment eighth.

In 2016, Exline-Border Racing was part of the group that owned Champagne Room, who won the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) for Eurton at 33-1 odds and was eventually named champion 2-year-old filly. Could lightning strike twice for them? Exline said he'll leave that up to the voters to make the call.

"I will let the writers, you all, decide who wins those awards or let the voters decide that," Exline said. "We won one with Champagne Room, which was incredible. We'll have to see what's next for him—if we run again this year or wait and start his 3-year-old campaign. But he deserves to have his name mentioned (for the 2-year-old championship), and we're excited about that, and we'll see how it comes out."

The surprising outcome could wind up benefiting Sakatoga Stables' Tiz the Law, who won the Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park but skipped the Breeders' Cup in deference to running in the Nov. 30 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

As for future plans for Storm the Court, Eurton was uncertain but said after running the 2-year-old four times since his Aug. 10 debut victory at Del Mar, the colt would likely be given some richly deserved time off. 

"I haven't given it any thought," Eurton said about Storm the Court's next start. "We'll see how he comes out of this race today and go from there. We're so proud of him, and he really deserves this moment in the spotlight. So we're very happy."

Whenever and wherever he starts his 3-year-old campaign, he will have a nice head start toward the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs as he received 20 points for winning the Juvenile in the Road to the Kentucky Derby point series. He has 22 overall.

It was Prat's idea to put blinkers on Storm the Court, which proved to be a wise suggestion by the jockey who won another well-known grade 1 stakes at long odds this year. He was aboard Country House, who was declared the winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) via disqualification at 65-1 odds.

"I thought last time he ran a little green," Prat said. "He broke well, and then he was kind of looking around. On the back side, he kind of lost his focus and kind of dropped back. So I thought the blinkers might help him."

The change of equipment, combined with Storm the Court's stamina, helped convince Eurton his colt could spring an upset in the Juvenile.

"The fact he was so far back and then he fought down the lane, and we didn't see the speed, so we were just hoping we would put it all together. And, sure enough, (Dennis' Moment) broke horrible, and that allowed us to take the lead. And I think they didn't really take him serious down the back side, so he got kind of his own way there," Eurton said.

Aside from the American Pharoah, Storm the Court won his debut by 1 1/2 lengths. In his next start, the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (G1), he was bumped, dumping Prat in the early stages of the race. Eight Rings veered to the rail in that race and also lost his rider, Drayden Van Dyke.

With the blinkers, Storm the Court was able to lead in the early stages for the first time Friday, though he also received some help in that regard when Dennis' Moment, breaking from the rail, stumbled and trailed the field.

Ortiz tried to coax Dennis' Moment back into the race, but on a surface that was kind to speed, the son of Tiznow  faced a nearly impossible task.

"I just concentrated on the horse and tried to do the best for him and see how he would react. When he didn't make up any ground getting to the quarter pole, I said just let me take care of him," Ortiz said. "It's tough to get beat like that. You want to see him in a fair race. He felt OK coming back."

For trainer Dale Romans and the Albaugh team, it was a bitter turn of events seeing the odds-on favorite's chances evaporate seconds after the gates opened.

"It was over. We had no chance from the start," said Jason Loutsch, racing manager for Albaugh Family Stables. "Dale just about took off out of the box when it started. We talk all the time about highs and lows of the game. I can tell you this is about as low as I've ever been in a horse race. But we have a lot of confidence in this horse, and I have no doubt he'll bounce back. I don't even know how Irad stayed on, to be honest. He went straight down all the way. It was unfortunate circumstances, but hopefully he came back good and we'll live to fight another day."

After an opening quarter in :23.49, Storm the Court led by a length on the backstretch over the Bob Baffert-trained Eight Rings, who seemed the most likely candidate to benefit from Dennis' Moment's misfortune.

Yet after a :47.07 half-mile and six furlongs in 1:11.60, the $520,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale buy was out of gas by the quarter pole.

"I was where I wanted to be. We had a nice position going to the first turn. I was where I wanted to be," jockey John Velazquez said. "I got to the second turn, and he didn't have anything."

Eight Rings finished 12 1/2 lengths behind Storm the Court, a turnaround of 20 3/4 lengths from the American Pharoah that left Baffert searching for answers and accepting the blame.

"I always blame myself. Maybe I missed something, but I thought he was ready. Everything was going great until the real race started. He didn't show up. The winner ran a great race," said Baffert, who trains the son of Empire Maker  for a consortium of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Fred Hertrich III, John Fielding, Golconda Stables, and Coolmore Stud. "He didn't show up. That's not like him. I thought he was training really well, but for some reason he just didn't show up today."

Once the bell tolled for Eight Rings, the race boiled down to a battle between Storm the Court and Peter Redekop's Anneau d'Or, a son of Medaglia d'Oro  out of the Tapit  mare Walk Close who was making his first start on dirt. A winner on turf in his previous start Sept. 29 at Golden Gate Fields, Anneau d'Or made a strong three-wide move and seemed poised to blow past Storm the Court but found a stubborn rival that would not surrender the lead.

"I thought he'd go by," said Juan Hernandez, who rode the 2-year-old for trainer Blaine Wright. "I was excited. I was pushing him real hard. It was the race of my life. I had to ride with all my heart. We just missed it today."

Storm the Court covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.93 and combined with Anneau d'Or, who picked up eight points toward a start in the Kentucky Derby, for a $2 exacta that paid $976.40.

It also fueled some dreams about something that seemed so unlikely just a few days ago but just might bloom like a rose when May rolls around.

"Well, this horse obviously looks like he can handle two turns. The Kentucky Derby, the way it's structured now with the point system, we have 22 points. I mean, you really have to gauge a (prep) race, you have to go hunt for the points, something Bob Baffert does better than anybody else," Bernsen said. "I had a horse last year, Signalman, we had (38) points and didn't make the Derby. So I think Pete Eurton's got to come up with a plan (to get us there)."

Video: TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1)